WESLEYAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY REFLECTS
ON
WESLEYAN AND CATHOLIC THOUGHT
The Wesleyan Philosophical Society (WPS) met for its 6th annual
meeting at Olivet Nazarene University, in
Bourbonnais, Illinois. The March 1 meeting brought together philosophers from a
variety of traditions to explore themes in Wesleyan and Catholic thought. More
than twenty papers were presented, the most in society’s history.
D. Stephen Long of
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, author of John Wesley’s Moral
Theology: The Quest for God and Goodness (Kingswood, 2005), served as
keynote speaker. In his opening lecture, “Embodying
Fides et Ratio: Holiness as Truth,” Long argued that we too readily accommodate
the familiar policing between faith and reason in the modern era. “Without
faith,” said Long, “reason and philosophy lose their proper telos. Philosophy
should be the love of wisdom that prompts persons to use reason in a quest for
truth, goodness and beauty.” Long adds that philosophical knowledge “should
make one’s life better, even holy.”
Long
also attacked the familiar argument that the cause of violence in our world is
due to religious people who claim to have the truth.
He said that the “task
of recovering the proper philosophical foundations of truth can best be served
by philosophizing with Mary.” In this, one “recognizes the important
relationship between truth and holiness.” Long offered metaphysics that emerges
from and is illuminated by the Incarnation. Mary reminds us that holiness and
truth must be thought and performed together.
Craig Boyd of Azusa Pacific University, gave
his presidential address, “Towards a Post-Foundationalist Theory of Natural
Law.” Boyd argued that post-modernism can provide a helpful corrective to some
versions of natural law morality, post-modernism’s own epistemological
relativism undermines its attempts at providing a coherent account of reality.
“The resilience of realism in the sciences and ethics has defied the gloomy
predictions of the post-modern prophets while maintaining a healthy falliblism,”
argued Boyd. Although the primary precepts of the natural law always direct us
to the good, said Boyd, “our application of these precepts and the continuing
narrative of natural law guide us to an ever-increasing awareness of the limits
of our own noetic capacities.”
At the meeting, Thomas
Jay Oord presented to Boyd a book consisting of WPS essays from the 2006
conference. The Many Facets of Love: Philosophical Explorations
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing) is edited by Oord. The book includes essays derived
from the meeting Boyd organized the previous year.
With regard to WPS
leadership, Bryan Williams moves from being 1st Vice President and
program chair to the presidency. Heather Ross, philosopher at Point Loma
Nazarene University, was elected 2nd Vice President. Brint
Montgomery remains as webmaster, and Oord remains as promotional secretary.
First Vice President, Rob Thompson, moves to program chair for
the 2008 WPS meeting. The meeting will be March 13 at Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina. Thompson has chosen the theme, Philosophy and Science:
Contemporary Explorations. See website for the full call for papers.
Submit
papers proposals of 250 words or less, along with name, position, and
institutional affiliation (if applicable) to Brint Montgomery at
Brint@snu.edu by
October 1, 2007. The
proposal should be sent as an email attachment in Microsoft Word format. Each
proposal will undergo a blind peer review process.
Details on WPS can be found at the society website
